Onimusha 3 Update

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Further impressions, movies and screens from the import.

By Anoop Gantayat

Since posting our early impressions from the final Japanese version a couple of weeks back, we've put some added time into Onimusha 3. We've gotten to try out some of the more advanced time-based puzzles and have fought some big time bosses, including Samanosuke and Jacques' ultimate rival himself.

Throughout our gameplay time, we've come to appreciate the game's fantastic action system even more. As mentioned in our earlier writeup, combat in Onimusha 3 feels like something that's been refined over several years. Blocking enemy attacks is an important part of the game, as is locking into enemies and navigating around them. All of this works smoothly, thanks in part to the new direct control scheme. We did have some frustration thanks to the occasional camera problem, but once we'd gotten the hang of things, we wanted to continue fighting even when enemies had run out.

The game offers lots of enemy targets for you to strike down, allowing you to make use of the multitude of weapons and abilities that Jacques and Samanosuke have at their disposal. Jacques starts off with his light whip but ends up acquiring a sphere-type weapon, a ball and chain, and others. Samanosuke has his own set of weapons, but also has several forms of arrows, each with a special ability. All weapons can be powered up three times, gaining added abilities along the way.

You even gain the ability to use Michelle, Jacque's fiancée, in a few short sequences. Michelle carries two types of guns, each with unlimited ammo, and a limited number off grenades. Making use of her character offers a nice change of pace from the more close-up combat of the two heroes. Too bad the game has only a couple of short sequences with her as the playable character.

The real fights involve the two heroes Samanosuke and Jacques, of course, and this includes some awesome boss sequences. The main demonic villains of the original two titles return with this game, including Nobunaga himself who ends up being part of one of the coolest boss fights we've yet to see on the PS2. Sadly, the early boss seen in our previous video footage is the only mechanical boss featured in the game. Everything else is pure flesh -- demon flesh, but flesh none-the-less.

As great as the action is, some of Onimusha 3's puzzles managed to intrigued us more. While early areas of the game feature Resident Evil style puzzles that require you to search for keys and push buttons, the latter puzzles end up making use of the storyline's time features. A few hours into the game, and you gain the ability to travel back and forth through time, switching control between Samanosuke in modern times and Jacques in ancient Japan. Switching can be done at pink-colored time jump spheres, usually located next to save points.

When switching, you can choose to send a few items between the two characters, and this ends up making for some refreshing, and long, puzzle sequences. These sequences usually involve one character seeking out an item that another character requires in order to progress. The puzzles are layered on top of one another, with your unraveling larger puzzles by solving several tinier puzzles.

Unfortunately, throughout the course of the game there are only two such puzzle sequences. While both are long and captivating, each lasting multiple hours, we were hoping for a bit more use of this unique system (how many games will feature time travel as part of their story, after all?).

Outside of gameplay, we were thrown off by the game's storyline -- or, rather, how horrible it turned out to be. We were intrigued by some of the early moments, which managed to convince us that a story involving a samurai being time warped into France could actually be good. That may or may not be the case, but Onimusha 3 certainly does a bad job of things. Without giving away too much, let's just say that there's a whiney kid involved, and he has the ability to mentally connect across time with Jacques. We guarantee you'll laugh during even the serious cinema sequences -- the story is that bad.

So after having played through Japanese version, what's the final verdict? Should you continue to be excited for the American release, or should this series have ended at Onimusha 2? While the story is horrible and there are a few areas in which the game is lacking, with its awesome action, superb graphics and fresh puzzles, we'd say that Onimusha 3 is certainly something to look forward to for fans and non-fans of the Onimusha series.